About

Dragon Keepers by Vital Lacerda and his daughter Catarina!

$33,912

pledged of $20,000 goal

1,057

backers

Dragon Keepers is a game representing a battle between two powerful forces. The first is a group of evil hunters who want to destroy dragons for trophies and fame. The other group is the heroic dragon keepers who protect and train the dragons. Each player represents the chief of a specific tribe of dragon keepers who will defend the dragons from attacks by the evil hunters at all cost!

In Dragon Keepers, there are 2 different modes of gameplay. Both modes are played over several rounds until players have reached a game ending condition. The game modes are the following:

Keeper ModeA light competitive game using "push your luck" mechanisms, which takes 10-15 minutes and plays from 3 to 6 players. This mode is a lighter version of the game intended for younger children. The goal for each player is to heroically defend 3 different dragons from the evil hunter.

Dragon ModeA cooperative game which takes 30-40 minutes and plays from 2 to 4 players. This mode requires a bit more strategic thinking and is more suited for adults and older children. The goal for the players is to train a predetermined number of dragons and have them successfully attack the Hunter.

KeepersThe Keepers have vowed to protect the dragons. In both game modes, players will choose a Keeper deck to play the game with. Keeper decks have a unique colored tribe symbol on the back of the card. The front of the card represents a Keeper from each different tribe. For example, the Red Keeper deck will have a Keeper from each color (Red, Yellow, Green, Blue, Purple, and White).

Each card in a player’s Keeper deck represents an individual dragon keeper which will protect one type of dragon from attacks made by the hunter. For example, a purple dragon keeper can only protect a purple dragon.

DragonsThe dragons in the game are powerful untamed magical creatures that always start the game with the Friendly side of their Dragon tile face up. In the Keeper game, the dragons are younger and will never be flipped to their Trained side. In the Dragon game, the dragons are older and keepers can train them which flips the tile to the trained side. Both Friendly and Trained sides of a Dragon tile will have a number of Heart symbols in the upper left corner. The hearts represent the Life of the dragon and also the number of attacks the dragon can receive before they are defeated.

MagicThe world of Dragon Keepers is a mystical place. The keepers have harnessed magical powers by using special items and spells. Players will receive Magic cards as a reward for defending or healing the dragons. Magic cards allow a player to take a powerful independent second action during their turn.

The Deluxe box will be the Kickstarter version of the game and will include all deluxe game stretch goals and the Limited Exclusive Deluxe Upgrades. It is also important to note that the deluxe game will have a significantly limited print run and will not be placed into regular distribution. However, it will be available in limited supply at conventions, through contests, and directly from Knight Works on our website or through our Amazon store.

The actual cost of this version of the game should be over $45! BUT, because we are only offering this deluxe version of the game on this Kickstarter or directly from Knight Works we can offer it at a special price of $32. We are passing these cost savings to you for this truly limited collectors edition of the game!

The current upgrades the Deluxe box includes are the following:

Unique Kickstarter game box - includes a matte exterior finish with spot UV logos and a full-color quality box insert.

Click the logo above to play Dragon Keepers! Tabletopia is the only free-to-play sandbox virtual table with 100% licensed board games and ready setups. Already 500+ games and counting! Play how you want with whom you want: guests don’t need accounts to play. Or make your own games, no programming skills required.

The Dragon's Story by Catarina Lacerda

Why back this project?

Great Gameplay! - Thematic and easy to learn gameplay with strategic decision making. The two different game modes accommodate younger players and more advanced gamers.

Stretch Goals! - Your pledge helps improve the game and makes a big difference for our small indie company!

We are currently working with several individuals who have agreed to help us translate the rules into separate PDF files. We will also be creating PDF files to translate the 22 cards that have text on them (18 Magic cards & 4 Player Aids). This will allow owners of the game to print the translations and place those in a sleeve in front of the card face. The cards are approximately 63 x 88 mm. The following is a list of languages we will work on after the KS campaign for both the rule book and card translations: Portuguese, Spanish, German, French and Italian.

Note: These are only samples and will be adjusted.

KickstarterAll projects on Kickstarter do not charge backers until the project reaches both the end date and its funding goal. When both of those happen then Knight Works, LLC will receive the funds within 14 days of the project end date. At that point, we will begin working with the manufacturer to produce the expansion. Based on previous estimates it will take approximately nine months to receive the game. Once we have the game a survey will be sent out using the Kickstarter website to collect shipping addresses.

RetailersIf you are a retailer and interested in purchasing Knight Works products please contact me to discuss additional discounts. (Note: You will need to provide proof of your physical or online store.)

ShippingThe cost of shipping has drastically risen over the past few years. To ensure the future success of Knight Works, I can no longer offer free shipping to US backers. However, Knight Works is absorbing a portion of all shipping costs to all countries.

Important: We will be charging shipping, once the Kickstarter is over, based on actual shipping costs. We will collect your address information, and any applicable shipping fees, via our Pledge Manager after the campaign ends.

We will ship all rewards to our various fulfillment centers. From there, depending on where you are in the world, we will ship to you from our fulfillment center in the US, Canada, Australia (Australia and New Zealand backers), and United Kingdom (EU backers and the rest of the world).

Note: The following shipping prices are only estimates. Costs may increase based on actual shipping costs for your area. The cost to ship a standard retail game is the same as shipping a deluxe copy.

USA and UK: $5

CANADA: $6

EUROPE: $6 to most countries

OCEANIA: $6 to Australia. $8 to New Zealand

Rest of the world $15

We cannot ship to PO Boxes domestically or internationally, and to the following countries: Cuba, Iran, Burma (Myanmar), Sudan, North Korea and Syria.

Hello everyone. I am Vital Lacerda, the designer of Dragon Keepers. I was born in Lisbon 49 years ago, a city I adore and still live in with Sandra, my wife, and my two lovely daughters. I have a Master's degree in Marketing and Advertising, and after working in advertising agencies for almost 15 years as an art director, I decided to try my luck as a freelance graphic designer. I've been working like this since 2007. At that same time, I also began designing board games, my true and great passion.

Most of all, I consider myself a gamer who had the luck of having a few publishers who believed in my games. I published Vinhos in 2010; CO2 two years later; Kanban in 2014, The Gallerist in 2015 and Lisboa 1 year ago. Two years ago I also did a major re-release of my first game Vinhos.

I have a tendency to design "thinking" games because those are the types of games I love to play. A big box game takes a lot of time to design, playtest and develop. So when I begin such an endeavor, I always look for a few characteristics that are fun for me in those type of games. They need to be challenging; they need to require deep thinking and difficult decision-making; they must allow great control, and they must involve intense competition and heavy strategy. Those are the games I love to play and design.

Hello everyone. I am Catarina Lacerda, the co-designer of Dragon Keepers. My father and I started designing this game when I was 9 years old, but now I’m 14. So, this game took a big portion of my life to make.

The idea for this game came to me because my favorite movie is "How to Train Your Dragon". I wanted to play a game based on that! So, I talked to my father about it and one day we started testing my first ideas on how to play the game. We had fun that day, but he quickly forgets because it is not the type of game he usually designs.

But, I kept thinking about the game and began writing short stories for each of the dragons. I kept insisting that we should make this game. I must have been very convincing because the game is finally ready! I hope you enjoy playing it as I did during almost half of my life!

Mihajlo "The Mico" Dimitrievski is an illustrator from Macedonia and he has created beautiful art for many games like Shipwrights of the North Sea, Raiders of the North Sea, Explorers of the North Sea, Villages of Valeria and many more. His unique artistic style creates memorable characters and brings fantasy worlds to life!

We started developing board games back in 1999, but it was not until the introduction of Kickstarter that we were able to mass produce games. We have many titles designed, playtested and ready to go. The number one issue in getting those games produced is the high cost to manufacture board and card games. With your help, we can bring fun, high quality, and thematic games to players across the world.

100% of the money we gather from Kickstarter will be used to pay for printing costs, royalties and the manufacturing of pledge rewards. If we raise significantly more, the extra funds will go into a larger print run, bringing the cost of the games down, and in upgrading the already existing pledge rewards.

Please check out our Facebook page and click "Like" on our page at www.facebook.com/knightworksgames. Once the Kickstarter project closes then Facebook, Twitter and www.KnightWorksGames.com will be the primary way that we post updates and future news items. Clicking "Like" on the Facebook page will also give you a chance to win monthly contests. You can also follow us on Twitter here @knightworks

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Risks and challenges

Knight Works, LLC was an early adopter on Kickstarter way back in May of 2011. Our board game Dark Horse was the 43rd successful Kickstarter project in the "Tabletop Game" category. As of today, there have been over 8,000 successful campaigns in that same category. Since 2011, we have supported and closely followed many projects on Kickstarter for over 7+ years. We feel confident in saying that we understand most of the issues involved with publishing and manufacturing a board game. These issues range from problems with game components, international shipping/customs, manufacturing issues, and even art delays. In short, no one can guarantee a flawless Kickstarter campaign. However, we are well aware of the various pitfalls and will avoid them when possible. As with our prior campaigns, we will keep you informed with updates and answer all questions in a timely manner.

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge $32 or more
About $32

DELUXE - DRAGON KEEPERS

Kickstarter Version - includes all deluxe game stretch goals and the Limited Exclusive Deluxe Upgrades.

IMPORTANT: The deluxe game will have a significantly limited print run and will not be placed into regular distribution. However, it will be available in limited supply at conventions, through contests, and directly from Knight Works on our website or through our Amazon store.

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge $48 or more
About $48

2 COPY BUNDLE

Retail Version - includes all base game stretch goals with the same shipping charge as a single game for US and UK backers. An additional charge of $5-8 will be added (during Pledge Management) to ship to locations outside of the US and the UK. ($12 off retail)

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge $62 or more
About $62

DELUXE - 2 COPY BUNDLE

Kickstarter Version - includes all deluxe game stretch goals and the Limited Exclusive Deluxe Upgrades. This reward will have the same shipping charge as a single game for US and UK backers. An additional charge of $5-8 will be added (during Pledge Management) to ship to locations outside of the US and the UK.

NOTE: Both games must go to the same address.

IMPORTANT: The deluxe game will have a significantly limited print run and will not be placed into regular distribution. However, it will be available in limited supply at conventions, through contests, and directly from Knight Works on our website or through our Amazon store.

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge $115 or more
About $115

5 COPY BUNDLE (US, EU & Canada)

Retail Version - includes all base game stretch goals with free shipping to the US and the UK. An additional charge of $10 will be added (during Pledge Management) to ship to Canada and EU countries outside of the UK. ($35 off retail)

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge $150 or more
About $150

DELUXE - 5 COPY BUNDLE (US, EU & Canada)

Kickstarter Version - includes all deluxe game stretch goals and the Limited Exclusive Deluxe Upgrades. An additional charge of $10 will be added (during Pledge Management) to ship to Canada and EU countries outside of the UK.

NOTE: All games must go to the same address.

IMPORTANT: The deluxe game will have a significantly limited print run and will not be placed into regular distribution. However, it will be available in limited supply at conventions, through contests, and directly from Knight Works on our website or through our Amazon store.